Method for manufacturing semiconductor device

ABSTRACT

A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device having a movable unit includes a step of forming an SOI substrate that includes a semiconductor substrate, an insulating layer, and a semiconductor layer such that the insulating layer is located between the semiconductor layer and the semiconductor substrate. The method further includes a step of dry etching the semiconductor layer to form a trench with a charge prevented from building up on a surface of the insulating layer that is exposed at a bottom of the trench during the dry etching. The method further includes a step of dry etching a sidewall defining the trench at a portion adjacent to the bottom of the trench to form the movable unit. The later dry etching is performed with a charge building up on the surface of the insulating layer such that etching ions strike to etch the portion of the sidewall.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application relates to and incorporates herein by reference Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-73961 filed on Mar. 18, 2002.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, in which an active layer is located on a supporting substrate with an insulating intermediate layer therebetween and a movable unit included in the active layer moves in relation to the supporting substrate in response to a force applied to the movable unit, which is correlated to a dynamic quantity to be measured by the device.

[0003] As such a device, a capacitive semiconductor acceleration sensor shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is proposed. As shown in FIG. 5, the proposed acceleration sensor includes a substrate 110, which has a Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) structure. The substrate 110 is composed of an active layer 112, an insulating intermediate layer 113, and a supporting substrate 111. The active layer 112 and the supporting substrate 111 are made of silicon, and the insulating intermediate layer 113 is made of silicon oxide.

[0004] As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the active layer 112 includes a movable unit 120 and two fixed units 130. The movable unit 120 is composed of a weight 121, two comb-shaped movable electrodes 124, and two rectangular springs 122. The movable electrodes 124 are joined to the weight 121. In addition, the springs 122 are joined to the weight 121. The movable unit 120 moves in relation to the supporting substrate 111 in response to an acceleration of the sensor. Each fixed unit 130 includes a comb-shaped fixed electrode 132. The fixed electrodes 132 are stationary in relation to the supporting substrate 111 under the acceleration of the sensor. As shown in FIG. 4, each of the fixed electrodes 132 interleaves with each of the movable electrodes 124 to form two capacitances.

[0005] The movable electrodes 124 move along the directions X of FIG. 4 with the weight 121 in response to an acceleration of the sensor along the directions X. When the movable electrodes 124 move, the clearances between the movable electrodes 124 and the fixed electrodes 132 change. The two capacitances are correlated to the clearances, so the two capacitances change in response to the acceleration. In addition, the two capacitances change in a manner that one of the capacitances increases while the other decreases. Therefore, the acceleration along the directions X can be measured based on the difference between the capacitances.

[0006] As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, in a conventional manufacturing process of the proposed acceleration sensor, a plurality of trenches 114, 114 a, 114 b that extend through a silicon layer 112, from which the active layer 112 is formed, to the insulating intermediate layer 113 are formed by dry etching the silicon layer 112. Then, the sidewalls defining the trenches 114, 114 a, 114 b are dry etched at the portions adjacent to the bottoms of the trenches 114, 114 a, 114 b to complete the movable unit 120 and the fixed electrodes 132, as shown in FIG. 6C.

[0007] Under the acceleration of the sensor, the clearances are determined by the movement of the movable unit 120, and the movement of the movable unit 120 is determined by the deformability of the springs 122, which are formed by the above dry etching steps. Therefore, increasing machining precision, or dry etching precision, of the springs 122 is essential to decrease sensor-to-sensor deviation in sensor characteristics.

[0008] In the conventional manufacturing process, the trajectory angle of etching ions are substantially orthogonal to the surface of the silicon layer 112 until the insulating intermediate layer 113 is exposed at the bottom of the trenches 114, 114 a, 114 b during the step of forming the trenches 114, 114 a, 114 b. Therefore, the sidewalls defining the trenches 114, 114 a, 114 b would be straight right after all the trenches 114, 114 a, 114 b are completed if the etching rate of the silicon layer 112 was homogeneous across the substrate 110 in the dry etching.

[0009] When the trenches 114, 114 a, 114 b are formed by the dry etching, however, the etching rate varies depending on, for example, the size of etched features. Specifically, the etching rate decreases as the trench width narrows due to, so-called, micro-loading effect. The micro-loading effect is caused by insufficient supply of etching gasses into a narrow trench. More specifically, the micro-loading effect is caused because the etching gasses can not be sufficiently supplied to the bottom of the narrow trench while a constant amount of the etching gasses are supplied to the entrance of the trench.

[0010] For example, in FIGS. 4 and 5, a wide trench 114 a that are defined by one of the movable electrode 124 and one of the springs 122 has width W1, which is wide enough not to be susceptible to the micro-loading effect. On the other hand, a narrow trench 114 b that are defined by a pair of beams making up the one of the springs 122 has width W2, which is narrow enough to be susceptible to the micro-loading effect. Therefore, during the dry etching, although the etching gasses are sufficiently supplied to the bottom of the wide trench 114 a, the etching gasses are not sufficiently supplied to the bottom of the narrow trench 114 b. As a result, the etching rate is slower at the bottom of the narrow trench 114 b than at the bottom of the wide trench 114 a. Thus, when the wide trench 114 a is completed, the narrow trench 114 b is not completed yet, as shown in FIG. 6A.

[0011] To avoid the incomplete etching of the narrow trench 114 b caused by the micro-loading effect, the etching is continued until the narrow trench 114 b is completed. In that case, however, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the narrow trench 114 b is completed, each of the sidewalls defining the wide trench 114 a is locally etched by the interface between the semiconductor layer 112 and the insulating intermediate layer 113, so notches are generated on the sidewalls defining the wide trench 114 a at the bottom thereof. The phenomenon is called “notching”. Specifically, the “notching” is caused because a charge builds up due to etching ions on the surface of the insulating intermediate layer 113, which is exposed during the dry etching at the bottom of the wide trench 114 a. The charged surface repels etching ions to change the ion trajectory angle, so etching ions are deflected towards the sidewall. As a result, the sidewalls are etched by the interface between the semiconductor layer 112 and the insulating intermediate layer 113.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 6C, after the trenches 114, 114 a, 114 b are completed, the movable electrodes 124 and the fixed electrodes 132 are finally formed by dry etching the side walls defining the trenches 114, 114 a, 114 b at the portions adjacent to the bottoms of the trenches 114, 114 a, 114 b. However, as shown in FIG. 6B, each of the sidewalls defining the wide trench 114 a has a notch, and the shape of the notch significantly deviates with in an etching batch and between etching batches.

[0013] As a result, the cross-sectional shape of the springs 122 significantly fluctuates between the sensors and so does the performance of the springs 122. Thus, the acceleration sensors that are manufactured in the conventional process have significant sensor-to-sensor deviation in sensor characteristics.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0014] The present invention has been made in view of the above aspects with an object to increase the precision in the dry etching for forming a movable unit of a semiconductor device, in which an active layer is located on a supporting substrate with an insulating intermediate layer therebetween and the movable unit moves in relation to the supporting substrate in response to a force applied to the movable unit, which is correlated to a dynamic quantity to be measured by the device, in order to reduce device-to-device deviation in device characteristics.

[0015] To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device includes a step of forming an SOI substrate that includes a semiconductor substrate, an insulating layer, and a semiconductor layer such that the insulating layer is located between the semiconductor layer and the semiconductor substrate.

[0016] The method further includes a step of dry etching the semiconductor layer to form a trench that extends through the semiconductor layer to the insulating layer. The dry etching is performed with a charge prevented from building up on a surface of the insulating layer that is exposed during the dry etching. The method further includes a step of dry etching a sidewall defining the trench at a portion adjacent to a bottom of the trench to form the movable unit. The later dry etching is performed with a charge building up on the surface of the insulating layer such that etching ions strike to etch the portion of the sidewall.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description made with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

[0018]FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a semiconductor acceleration sensor that is manufactured using the method according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0019]FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the semiconductor acceleration sensor of FIG. 1 taken along lines II-II in FIG. 1;

[0020]FIGS. 3A to 3D are cross-sectional profiles of the sensor of FIG. 1 at steps of the manufacturing process using the method according to the embodiment;

[0021]FIG. 4 is a schematic plane view of a proposed semiconductor acceleration sensor that is manufactured using a conventional method;

[0022]FIG. 5 is an ideal cross-sectional profile of the proposed sensor of FIG. 4 taken along lines V-V in FIG. 4; and

[0023]FIGS. 6A to 6C are cross-sectional profiles of the proposed sensor of FIG. 4 at steps of the manufacturing process using the conventional method;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0024] The present invention will be described in detail with reference to an embodiment.

[0025] A semiconductor acceleration sensor S1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 can be used as, for example, a sensor for automobiles such as an acceleration sensor and a gyro sensor, which are used for operating the air bag system, the anti-lock break system (ABS), the vehicle stability control (VSC) system, and so on.

[0026] As shown in FIG. 2, the semiconductor acceleration sensor S1 includes a substrate 10, which has a Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) structure. The substrate 10 is composed of an active layer 12, an insulating intermediate layer 13, and a supporting substrate 11. The active layer 12 and the supporting substrate 11 are made of silicon, and the insulating intermediate layer 13 is made of silicon oxide.

[0027] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the active layer 12 includes a movable unit 20, two anchors 23 a, 23 b, and two fixed units 30, 40. The movable unit 20 is composed of a weight 21, two comb-shaped movable electrodes 24, and two rectangular springs 22. The movable electrodes 24 are joined to the weight 21. In addition, the springs 22 are joined to the weight 21 and the anchors 23 a, 23 b. Therefore, the movable unit 20 moves in relation to the supporting substrate 11 in response to an acceleration of the sensor S1. Each one of the fixed unit 30, 40 includes a comb-shaped fixed electrode 32, 42. The fixed electrodes 32, 42 are stationary in relation to the supporting substrate 11 under the acceleration of the sensor S1. As shown in FIG. 1, each of the fixed electrodes 32, 42 interleaves with each of the movable electrodes 24 to form two capacitances CS1, CS2.

[0028] The anchors 23 a, 23 b are fixed to the insulating intermediate layer 13, although one of the anchors 23 a is not shown in FIG. 2. The movable electrodes 24 and the weight 21 are spaced apart from the insulating intermediate layer 13. That is, the movable unit 20 is suspended between the anchors 23 a, 23 b. As shown in FIG. 1, each of the rectangular springs 22 includes two beams, which are substantially parallel to each other and connected to each other at its both ends. Each rectangular spring 22 functions as a spring to expand and shrink along the directions orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the beams, or along the directions X of FIG. 1. Therefore, the movable unit 20 moves along the directions X of FIG. 1 when the movable unit 20 is accelerated along the directions X and moves back to the original position when the acceleration becomes zero.

[0029] The movable electrodes 24 are respectively located on left and right ends of the weight 21 in FIG. 1. The movable electrodes 24 are mechanically and electrically linked to the weight 21. Therefore, the movable electrodes 24 move with the weight 21 along the directions X in response to the acceleration of the sensor. As shown in FIG. 1, each of the movable electrodes 24 includes three substantially-straight movable electrode beams 24. The left movable electrode beams 24 and the right movable electrode beams 24 jut out in the opposite direction to be orthogonal to the direction X. Each movable electrode beam 24 has a rectangular cross-section. Each movable electrode 24 is spaced apart from the insulating intermediate layer 13, as shown in FIG. 2. The distance between each of the movable electrodes 24 and the insulating intermediate layer 13 is, for example, about a few micrometers.

[0030] On the other hand, the fixed members 30, 40 are fixed to the insulating layer 13 to be supported by the supporting substrate 11 at the left and right sides thereof in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, the left fixed unit 30 and the right fixed unit 40 are electrically isolated from each other.

[0031] Each of the fixed members 30, 40 also includes a wiring portion 31, 41, at which each of the fixed members 30, 40 is fixed to the insulating layer 13. Each fixed electrode 32, 42 is mechanically and electrically linked to the corresponding wiring portion 31, 41. Each fixed electrode 32, 42 includes three substantially-straight fixed electrode beams 32, 42. As shown in FIG. 1, the left fixed electrode beams 32 and the right fixed electrode beams 42 jut out in the opposite direction to be orthogonal to the direction X. Each fixed electrode beams 32, 42 has a rectangular cross-section. Each fixed electrode 32, 42 is spaced apart from the insulating intermediate layer 13, as shown in FIG. 2. The distance between each of the fixed electrodes 32, 42 and the insulating intermediate layer 13 is, for example, about a few micrometers.

[0032] As shown in FIG. 1, there is a left clearance between the left movable electrode 24 and the left fixed electrode 32, more specifically between each of the left movable electrode beams 24 and the corresponding left fixed electrode beam 32, and a left capacitance CS1 is formed between the left movable electrode 24 and the left fixed electrode 32. On the other hand, there is a right clearance between the right movable electrode 24 and the right fixed electrode 42, more specifically between each of the right movable electrode beams 24 and the corresponding right fixed electrode beam 42, and a right capacitance CS2 is formed between the right movable electrode 24 and the right fixed electrode 42.

[0033] In FIG. 1, each of the left movable electrode beams 24 is located at the lower side of the corresponding left fixed electrode beams 32. On the other hand, each of the right movable electrode beams 24 is located at the upper side of the corresponding right fixed electrode beams 32 in FIG. 1. Therefore, when the movable electrodes 24 move along the directions X in response to a force that acts on the movable unit 20 along the directions X, the capacitances CS1, CS2 change in a manner that one of the capacitances CS1 (CS2) increases while the other CS2 (CS1) decreases. Moreover, the force can be correlated to an acceleration of the sensor S1 along the directions X. Therefore, the acceleration can be measured based on the difference (CS1×CS2) between the capacitances CS1, CS2.

[0034] A fixed electrode pad 31 a, 41 a for wire bonding is located at a predetermined position on each of the wiring portions 31, 41 of the fixed units 30, 40. Each of the fixed electrode pads 31 a, 41 a is electrically connected to the corresponding fixed electrode 32, 42 through the corresponding wiring portion 31, 41. As shown in FIG. 1, one of the anchors 23 b is mechanically and electrically linked to one of the springs 22. A movable electrode pad 20 a for wire bonding is located at a predetermined position on the one of the anchors 23 b. The movable electrode pad 20 a is electrically connected to the movable electrodes 24 through the one of the springs 22 and the weight 21. The electrode pads 20 a, 31 a, 41 a are made of, for example, aluminum.

[0035] Although not illustrated in the drawings, the semiconductor acceleration sensor S1 is fixed to a package using, for example, an adhesive pasted at the back side of the supporting substrate 11, or at the side opposite to the insulating layer 13. The package has an electric circuit that is electrically connected to the electrode pads 20 a, 31 a, 41 a with gold or aluminum bonding-wires.

[0036] A method for manufacturing the semiconductor acceleration sensor S1, which has a substantially ideal cross-sectional profile shown in FIG. 2, will be described.

[0037] As shown in FIG. 3A, an SOI substrate 10 that includes a semiconductor substrate 11, an insulating layer 13, and a semiconductor layer 12 is formed such that the insulating layer 13 is located between the semiconductor layer 12 and the semiconductor substrate 11. For example, the SOI substrate 10 may be formed by bonding two silicon single crystal substrates, each of which has (100) face orientation, with a silicon oxide (SiO₂) film located therebetween. The two silicon single crystal substrates become the semiconductor substrate 11 and the semiconductor layer 12, respectively. The SiO₂ film becomes the silicon oxide layer 13.

[0038] Then, an aluminum is deposited on the semiconductor layer 12 by, for example, 1 μm and patterned out into electrode pads 20 a, 31 a, 41 a for wire bonding using photolithography and etching as shown in FIG. 3A, although one of the electrode pad 20 a is not illustrated in FIG. 3A.

[0039] Next, a masking layer 50 that has openings at the areas where trenches 14, 14 a, 14 b are formed is made on the semiconductor layer 12. The masking layer 50 may be formed by patterning a photo-resist layer using photolithography. Then, the semiconductor layer 12 is etched through the openings using a plasma dry etching with a charge prevented from building up on a surface of the silicon oxide layer 13 that is exposed during the dry etching in order to form the trenches 14, 14 a, 14 b. The dry etching can be achieved using, for example, a pulsed frequency bias generated by a low frequency RF power supply, as described later.

[0040] As the dry etching proceeds, a wide trench 14 a and other trenches 14 are completed at first, as shown in FIG. 3B. The dry etching is continued further until a narrow trench 14 b is finally completed, as shown in FIG. 3C. Then, as shown in FIGS. 3C and 3D, the sidewalls defining the trenches 14, 14 a, 14 b are dry etched at the portions adjacent to the bottoms of the trenches 14, 14 a, 14 b with a charge building up on the surface of the insulating layer 13. With the later dry etching, a movable unit 20 and two fixed electrodes 32, 42 are finally formed, as shown in FIG. 3D. The later dry etching can be achieved using, for example, a continuous frequency bias generated by a high frequency RF power supply, as described later.

[0041] To the above two dry etchings, for example, inductively coupled plasma (ICP) using gases such as CF₄ or SF₆ as etching gases or reactive ion etching (RIE) using the same etching gases may be applied. Finally, the masking layer 50 is removed and the semiconductor acceleration sensor S1 of FIGS. 1 and 2 is completed.

[0042] The above method for manufacturing the sensor S1 is characterized in that the former dry etching is performed with a charge prevented from building up on the surface of the silicon oxide layer 13 and the later dry etching is performed with a charge building up on the surface of the silicon oxide layer 13.

[0043] The former dry etching is performed with a charge prevented from building up on the surface of the silicon oxide layer 13, so it is possible to avoid the localized etching, or “notching”, of the sidewalls defining the wide trench 14 a until the narrow trench 14 b is completed in the former dry etching. It is not necessary that the charge is completely prevented from building up on the surface as long as the “notching” of the sidewalls dose not take place.

[0044] In the later dry etching, etching ions generated in the plasma of CF₄ or SF₆ build a charge up on the silicon oxide layer 13 at the bottoms of the trenches 14, 14 a, 14 b. The silicon oxide layer 13 is usually charged positively. Therefore, the trajectory angle of the etching ions is changed, as shown by the arrows Y in FIG. 3C. The etching ions strike the sidewalls and locally etch the sidewalls defining the trenches 14, 14 a, 14 b at the portions adjacent to the bottoms of the trenches 14, 14 a, 14 b to complete the movable unit 20 and the fixed electrodes 32, 42.

[0045] According to the above method, “notching” of the sidewalls defining the trenches 14, 14 a, 14 b is prevented, so the cross-sectional shape of the springs 22 after the later etching are relatively constant within an etching batch and between etching batches, and so as the performance of the springs 22. That is, machining precision, or dry etching precision, of the springs 22 is relatively excellent. Therefore, the characteristics of the semiconductor acceleration sensor S1, which are manufactured in the above process, are relatively constant between the sensors S1.

[0046] For example, the method disclosed by U.S. patent application No. 6,187,685 may be used to prevent a charge from building up on the surface of the silicon oxide layer 13 in the former dry etching and to build a charge up on the surface of the silicon oxide layer 13 in the later dry etching.

[0047] In U.S. patent application No. 6,187,685, when the bias frequency during dry etching is at or above 5 MHz, more preferably above 10 MHz, the surface of an insulating layer that is located at the bottom of a trench is charged with the following mechanism. Electrons are able to respond to the electric field formed by the frequency bias, so the electrons move isotropically. However, positive etching ions are not able to respond to the electric field, so the moving direction of the positive etching ions is not changed. As a result, positive etching ions are supplied to the surface of the insulating layer more than the electrons. Thus, the surface of the insulating layer is charged. The above frequency bias is achieved using a continuous frequency bias generated by a high frequency RF power supply.

[0048] On the other hand, when the bias frequency during the dry etching is below 5 MHz, more preferably below 600 kHz, the surface of an insulating layer that is located at the bottom of a trench is charged with the following mechanism. Both electrons and etching ions are able to respond to an applied electric field, so the electrons and the etching ions move anisotropically. As a result, the amount of the electrons that reach the surface of the insulating layer is substantially equal to that of the etching ions that reach the surface of the insulating layer. Thus, the surface of the insulating layer is not charged. The later frequency bias is achieved using a pulsed frequency bias generated by a low frequency RF power supply.

[0049] In the method for manufacturing the semiconductor acceleration sensor S1 as well, it is possible to prevent a charge from building up on the surface of the silicon oxide layer 13 in the former dry etching in order to form the trenches 14, 14 a, 14 b without causing “notching” on the sidewalls thereof as shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C, if the bias frequency below 5 MHz, more preferably below 600 kHz, is used. On the other hand, it is possible to build a charge up on the surface of the silicon oxide layer 13 in the later dry etching in order to complete the movable unit 20 and the fixed electrodes 32, 42, if the bias frequency at or above 5 MHz, more preferably above 10 MHz is used.

[0050] The present invention is not limited to the above method for manufacturing the semiconductor acceleration sensor S1 and may be variously applied. For example, the present invention may also be applied to methods for manufacturing other sensors such as a pressure sensor and an angular velocity sensor.

[0051] In the semiconductor acceleration sensor S1, as shown in FIG. 2, the fixed electrodes 32, 42 are completely separated from the silicon oxide layer 13. However, the fixed electrodes 32, 42 may be joined to the silicon oxide layer 13. The fixed electrodes 32, 42 that are joined to the silicon oxide layer 13 can be formed, for example, by widening the fixed electrodes 32, 42 than the movable electrodes 24 such that the fixed electrodes 32, 42 are not separated from the silicon oxide layer 13 after the movable unit 20 are completed by dry etching. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, in which an active layer is located on a supporting substrate with an insulating intermediate layer therebetween and a movable unit included in the active layer moves in relation to the supporting substrate in response to a force applied to the movable unit, wherein the force is correlated to a dynamic quantity to be measured by the device, the method comprising steps of: forming an SOI substrate that includes a semiconductor substrate, an insulating layer, and a semiconductor layer such that the insulating layer is located between the semiconductor layer and the semiconductor substrate; dry etching the semiconductor layer to form a trench that extends through the semiconductor layer to the insulating layer, wherein the dry etching is performed with a charge prevented from building up on a surface of the insulating layer that is exposed during the dry etching in order to prevent notching; dry etching a sidewall defining the trench at a portion adjacent to a bottom of the trench to form a movable unit, wherein the later dry etching is performed with a charge building up on the surface of the insulating layer such that etching ions strike to etch the portion of the sidewall.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein two trenches, one of which is wider than the other, are formed in the former dry etching.
 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the former dry etching is performed using a bias frequency below 5 MHz to prevent the charge from building up on the surface of the insulating layer.
 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the bias frequency is at or below 600 kHz.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the later dry etching is performed using a bias frequency at or above 5 MHz to build the charge up on the surface of the insulating layer.
 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the bias frequency is at or above 10 MHz.
 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the former dry etching is performed using a pulsed frequency bias generated by a low frequency RF power supply.
 8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the later dry etching is performed using a continuous frequency bias generated by a high frequency RF power supply.
 9. The method according to claim 2, wherein the movable unit includes a weight, a comb-shaped movable electrode, and a spring, wherein one of sidewalls that define the wider one of the two trenches is a sidewall of the spring, and wherein the notching is prevented on the sidewall of the spring. 